I spent almost twenty years traveling in Latin America during the 80s and 90s, principally in Venezuela, Mexico, and Central America. It was an exciting experience that has left me with many wonderful memories and lots of friends with whom I continue to correspond to this day. To say that I am simpatico with Latinos and their culture is an understatement. I was taken with all that is south of the border from my first visit and remain so today. They are wonderful people, full of life, marvelously creative and talented, and true to family and friends.
Life there was always an adventure; things worked differently, whether it was the utilities – water, phones, and electricity—or the police, postal service, public transportation, traffic, building codes, and so on.
As a North American, however, there was always a stress of living there compared to the United States. There was more apparent poverty and crime, sometimes inexplicable bureaucracy, and, of course, the inescapable lack of punctuality in all things.
After all these years, it struck me that for the first time ever, I am beginning to understand that world better. For much has changed here in the United States, especially in the last four years. Latinos were used to living with uncertainty about their world in ways that were really alien to me. They knew, for example, that their politicians and government officials were corrupt, and that the police were frequently untrustworthy. They took care of themselves, their families, and friends and lived behind locked doors and high walls.
Increasingly here in our country I see signs of what I experienced down south. There is a growing uncertainty about our political institutions, the economic systems, the police, and job security. We have begun to lock ourselves in behind our own walls of culture, religion, race, and socioeconomic status. We have begun to glare at one another, afraid or contemptuous of each other as we hoard and protect our own well-being.
The tangible signs are there, too. Voting rights are being suppressed, the courts are under assault, the media is threatened, and we band together tribally for self- assurance. The idea of a “loyal opposition” is ridiculed, abused, and belittled; name-calling and lack of respect carry the day. And now, even our Second Amendment is being corrupted with guns being brandished at polling places.